Some people, especially Dan Baudouin of the Providence Foundation, really, really like the idea of putting a garage on the state DOA-owned site behind the Garrahy Judicial Complex. The idea may be good, but it seems to be going nowhere fast. I wrote about this topic in last week's Phoenix.

To new urbanists, the reliance on surface lots is an inefficient use of space and it represents a certain kind of blight.

Michael Lewis, the recently hired director of the state Department of Transportation, seems like a nice guy. But his answers to questions during a taping this morning of WPRI-WNAC's Newsmakers were generally straight out of PR 101.

As Rhode Island continues to wrestle with massive deficits, we're starting to hear some novel suggestions about how to deal with the situation. Bob Walsh has floated a few concepts, such as privatizing a 10 percent chunk of the state Lottery and putting a one-way (incoming) toll booth at the point where I-95 leads from Connecticut into Rhode Island.

WEATHER PERMITTING, [Ray] Alexander pedals the seven miles each weekday from his home in Cranston's Edgewood section to his teaching job at Goodwill Industries of Rhode Island in Wanskuck. With hazards ranging from hostile motorists to piles of accumulated sand and trash in the road, he says, "It's a short commute, but it's not a pleasant one.

PROVIDENCE — A 13-year-old student at Perry Middle School was struck by a car as she walked to school yesterday morning. Sgt. Paul F. Zienowicz said the student, whose name was not available, was treated at Hasbro Children’s Hospital for minor injuries.

Considering Rhode Island's small size, the state should do bette with mass transit.

Writing in the Phoenix, Bill Rodriguez offers a preview of some related upcoming get-togethers:

Los Angeles drivers aren’t the only ones who can’t give up their dependence on cars. Rhode Island is small enough that the distance from Watch Hill to Woonsocket could be a mere spur line in a bigger city’s mass transit system.

Contrary to popular belief in some quarters, on-street parking in residential neighborhoods will not hasten the decline of Western Civilization. Patrick Ward, the force behind Citizens for Resident Permit Parking, will tell you the same thing. The Phoenix has written about this in the past.

The takeaway of the local coverage this week of the latest Texas Transportation Institute traffic analysis was that we're a lot better off than congested-clogged places like Los Angeles. Such conclusions, while accurate, distract attention from a steadily growing amount of local traffic.